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This Monday, Athletic Director M. Grace Calhoun announced that Bryan Volpenhein will join the Penn rowing community as head coach of Penn heavyweight rowing.

After four years with the program, former head coach Geoff Bond’s on June 30.

Volpenhein is a three-time Olympian who rowed for the US in 2000, 2004, and 2008. In Athens in 2004, the US won l Paul Pogba because he's treating the club like “idiots".That's according to McGrath, who says if he was in charge of the Old Trafford giants he would sell the World Cup winner in this summer's transfer window.“Paul Pogba seems to live in a worlgold with Volpenhein in stroke. This was the first time a US eight had won gold in 40 years. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, he also stroked the US eight that won bronze.

"I am incredibly honored to be chosen as the next head coach for Penn men's heavyweight rowing," Volpenhein said in a . "This program has a long and rich history of competitive crews and has been an integral part of Philadelphia's rowing community. I want to thank Dr. M. Grace Calhoun and the rest of the Penn staff for believing in me to lead the men's heavyweight program. I am very much looking forward to working with Colin (Farrell) and Wes (Ng) and the rest of the rowing staff and alumni to create a strong team for the future."

During his career, Volpenhein was US Rowing Male Athlete of the Year twice, the only person ever to achieve this honor. He has also been a member of the United States National Team ten times.

Before coming to Penn, Volpenhein served as head coach of the men’s varsity program at the San Diego Rowing Club, working specifically with high schoolers. He also worked as the technical director of the men’s rowing program at USD for one year.

Volpenhein comes to Penn with extensive experience coaching national teams to success on international stages. He coached three boats to gold medals at the World Rowing Championship or World Rowing Cup as the national team coach.

Volpenhein coached the national men’s lightweight team from 2010-2013. From 2013-2018, Volpenhein was the coach of the men’s national team. He helped prepare boats for the Rio Olympics, as well as for World Cups and World Championships.

Volpenhein lent his skills by helping train the men’s four for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. While he was the United States National Team Coach, three boats won gold medals in international competition.

"We are extremely excited to welcome Bryan to Penn to lead our men's heavyweight rowing program," Calhoun said. "His athletic career as a gold medalist and three-time Olympian speaks for itself, and his national-level coaching experience will allow us to attract and develop outstanding student-athletes. The future ed with Neto's progress since his preseason arrival from Lazio.But also says, “Pedro joined us late after having a couple of seasons with not a lot of competition. I think it took some time for him to adapt to the demands of the competition that weof Penn men's heavyweight rowing is bright under Bryan's leadershhaving a heavy influence on transfer policy this summer.The Mirror says Edu has returned to the Emirates this summer as the backroom restructure shaped up.Arsenal have been linked with a host of players since his appointment was confirmed last week, ip."

Volpenhein was also a member of the US Rowing Board of Directors from 2004 to 2008.

A lot of big names come out of Marymount High School in Los Angeles. Kim Kardashian and Olivia Jade Giannulli are just two on a long and very well-known list.

Flying slightly under the radar of the school’s more noteworthy alumni are the Marymount volleyball program's Taylor Fourticq and Caroline Douglas, both of whom are freshmen at Penn.

The duo attended the all-girls Catholic preparatory school together for four years before committing to play for the Red and Blue. Their volleyball team has a long history of excellence and has won three California state titles.During their senior year, Fourticq and Douglas almost saw the program add a fourth, as the team lost in the state final. However, they were able to lead their team to a first-place finish at the Nike Tournament of Champions.

Unsurprisingly, the program is consistently at the top of the list of schools that send volleyball players to compete in the Ivy League. Of their graduating class, Fourticq and Douglas are joined by teammates playing for schools across the country, including UCLA, San Diego, and Colgate.

Marymount coach Cari Klein credits the recruiting position of the school to their brand of athletes.

“I think programs might have a lot of academic kids who play volleyball, but it’s a different story when they’re used to winning. Taylor and Caroline are used to winning championships, winning tournaments. They don’t have much losing in their background," Klein said. "They expect to win."

And win they have. In the first two weeks of the season, the Red and Blue have racked up more wins than their season total from last year. Although the Quakers dropped their to Princeton on Friday, the team started off its season with a six-game winning streak and is looking strong ahead of the first home game this Friday.

Marymount athletes pay a high price for the success they achieve. With no real offseason, they see a full cycle of training year-round, including summer workouts on the beach and the UCLA track. At the end of their summer season, the players have what they "fine" after a poor week.Pochettino spoke to the media today after Tuesday's Carabao Cup shock at Colchester.He said, "It's okay. We feel disappointed because we expect to win the last three games and we haven't. "We deserved to beat Leicester, it i refer to as “hell week,” which consists of two to three daily practices. When the school year resumes, the team gets in a practice before and after school on some days, in addition to traveling to competitions.

After their time at such a rigorous program, it is clear that the duo has had a fairly smooth transition to collegiate volleyball.

“Here, for instance, our weights are at 7:30 in the morning, and that literally feels like sleeping in. I still have my alarm on my phone for 4:57 in the morning called, ‘you got this,’ and I just thank God every morning that that’s never going to be set again,” Douglas said.

While both have been playing volleyball for 10 years, at times the commits that his move from Southampton to the Reds worked out very nicely.Many fans were skeptical when Liverpool paid a then record sum for a defender to procure Van Dijk.But he made an instant impact and has helped the club to Champions League glory, witment to the sport at Marymount was far from easy. Regardless, they both looked back fondly on their senior night, an event dedicated to those who succeed through four years of the program.

“At Marymount, volleyball senior night is a huge deal. Girls literally stay in the program for four years just to have a senior night. You get these cute little teddy bears that my mom actually makes, with your jersey, and a ton of stuff that describes you,” Douglas said. “That was definitely my highlight because going through that program is really tough for four years, it’s such an accomplishment and that night is just an accumulation of everything you’ve done and everything you’ve worked for.”

Within such a demanding program, the athletes inevitably get very close. While in some sports the recruiting process is immensely stressful and can turn teammates against each other as they compete for a limited number of spots, Douglas and Fourticq had a very different experience.

“Most people aren’t competing for the same spot. Me and Dougie, because we’re different positions, weren’t competing for a specific Penn spot, which made things much less stressful,” Fourticq said.

After both attended the same sophomore summer camp at Penn, the duo had official visits on the same weekend when the Red and Blue played Princeton. Although they spent the majority of the weekend together, the coaches would separate recruits at times to give them confidential offers to join the team.

“I remember we didn’t know how to ask each other if we’d gotten the offer. I remember sitting at White Dog [Cafe] and going to the bathroom together so we could be like, ‘sooooo?’’” Douglas said.

Luckily for them, the two both got offers and committed within 48 hours of each other.

The relationships built among the Marymount athletes are lasting. When the Red and Blue were playing at the last week, the Marymount team, coming back from a tournament in Las Vegas, realized that Douglas and Fourticq were in their vicinity.

While on the bus, the players tried to no a late sale for Donny van de Beek.It's been claimed Real Madrid have a deal for the Holland midfielder and will sign him should they fail to land Manchester United star Paul Pogba.But Overmars told SER Catalunya, "Van de Beek will stay with Ajax thiavail to convince the driver to turn around so they could meet up with their teammates.

“It speaks volumes when the whole bus wants to turn and get a hug from [Fourticq and Douglas] because they know they’re in Riverside. The girls were dying to see them. They’re pretty important people to the program,” Klein said.

While they certainly embraced the athletic opportunity that Marymount had to offer, Fourticq and Douglas didn’t exactly miss out on celebrity sightings either. Kim Kardashian’s 20th reunion for Marymount fell during their time there.

“We found out that it was, in fact, Kim Kardashian’s 20th reunion one Friday night at Marymount. Our entire class of volleyball girls were all at Taylor’s house,” Douglas recalled. “We drove to Marymount that night, and I decided that I was going to be the guinea pig, that I was going to sacrifice my life. There was so much security."

Douglas entered the school under the guise of having lost her wallet. After wandering around for a while, she saw Kim Kardashian from a distance. The experience clearly left an impression on both of them.

“She was literally posting photos from the seat that I sat in in math,” Fourticq said.

While Olivia Jade’s presence in the class above them was more of a sensitive subject, the two rattled off a list of celebrities and famous figures that they encountered during their time at Marymount. Now-famous singer Charlotte Lawrence played volleyball with their program.

Having joined this group of notable alumni, Fourticq and Douglas are poised to contribute both on and off the court as members of this year’s new and improved Penn squad.

After the end of the season for sprint football, field hockey, men’s soccer, and cross country, All-Ivy honorees were announced, and several members of the Red and Blue made the list.

For sprint football, the Quakers had three first team All-Collegiate Sprint Football League selections, including the League's Most Valuable Player, senior quarterback Eddie Jenkins. Along with Jenkins, the other first team selections were sophomore running back Laquan McKever, senior offensive lineman Matt McDermott, and junior linebacker Aaron Johnson. In addition, Jenkins was awarded the Kay Trophy, which is voted upon by the League's coaches and awarded to the top overall performer.

Jenkins finished his final season with the Quahe fans chanting his name in the stands.The Red Devils newcomer has been quickly embraced by the Mancunian faithful, with chants of "Bruno, Bruno" heard around Old Trafford.Fernandes helped United to a 3-0 win over Watford on Sunday, scorimsdale joined fans on Saturday for defeat to Watford.Ramsdale posted a message on the club's social media last week, urging fans to give the struggling Cherries their full support when Watford visited on Saturday.The 21-year-old missed the game throung the firskers with 570 rushing yards, averaging 81.4 rushing yards per game. He also added 16 touchdowns to his rushing total in 2019. Through the air, Jenkins finished the season with a 66.7% completion percentage, 1207 passing yards, and 11 touchdowns. In total, Jenkins accounted for 27 touchdowns for Penn. Jenkins' performance led Penn to a 5-2 finish, as the team ended the year on a two-game winning streak.

For field hockey, the team saw one first team All-Ivy selection in Aelder Frenkie de Jong believes Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt will eventually join him at the Nou Camp.De Ligt turned down Barcelona in the summer as he opted for Juventus, but Frenkie de Jong believes that his former Ajax teammate could join thelexa Schneck and three second team All-Ivy picks. The senior forward Schneck was named to the All-Ivy first team in addition to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Mid-Atlantic All-Region first team. Additionally, sophomore midfielder/defender Gracyn Banks, sophomore forward Madison Jiranek, and freshman defender Elita van Staden were all named to the All-Ivy second team.

This is Schneck's fourth All-Ivy selection with Penn. She is one of just three players in program history to receive an All-Ivy selection in all four years with the program. Schneck is one of just 11 Ivy League athletes to earn a NFHCA first-team All-Region honors. She closed out her career with 53 total points in 66 starts, including 19 goals and 15 assists. In Ivy League play, she had 37 points in 28 contests.

Four athletes across the men's and women's cross country teams were named All Mid-Atlantic Region honorees. On the men's side, junior Anthony Russo and senior Will Daly received All-Region honors, while on the women's side, sophomore Ariana Gardizy and senior Nia Akins picked up the same honors.

In addition to the five All-Ivy awards for Penn, Touche was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Touche anchored a Penn defense that posted three shutouts and allowed just five goals across seven Ivy League matchups.

With a little more than a month gone in the season, Penn women's basketball currently sits at 3-4. The small number of games played by the Red and Blue has led to a small sample size of stats and observations, but there are several overarching trends from the team as it approaches Ivy play.

As has been since coach Mike McLaughlin took control of the program eight years ago, defense is the hallmark of this team. Despite a middle-of-the-pack 61.4 points against per game, the Quakers have hit their defensive stride in the previous few games. Penn held No. 3 Notre Dame, one of the top offenses in the nation, to a , then captured its first Big 5 win in nearly two years by to just 50 points.

Much of that recent success has been due to the growing chemistry between senior forward Michelle Nwokedi and freshman center Eleah Parker. The two stand form an imposing force on the inside, and it showed itself against Saint Joseph's: the duo combined for 12 rebounds, six blocks, and six steals.

Consistency has been an issue for the Red and Blue, not necessarily in between games but even from quarter to quarter. Against both and , the Quakers jumped out to substantial early leads, but were unable to keep the pressure on in the second quarter and beyond.

For the season, Penn has outscored opponents by 13 points in the first quarter, but has been outscored by 14 in the second quarter. That lack of continuity between quarters has led to losses, even though the Quakers were the better team on the floor for the majority of games.

"There are things that happen in a basketball game ... how are we going to maintain our composure? How are we goi Sanchez's problems at Old Trafford.Sanchez moved on-loan to Inter Milan in the summer.He told the Telegraph: "Sanchez… I felt him [to be] not a happy man."And I think in every job you have when you are not happy it is not so easy to perform at eveng to just look to the next play?" McLaughlin said. "I see progress, but I’m still seeing runs that are a little bit large at times, and we just need to find a way to get through them."

One of the biggest trends early thisoungster Sean Longstaff is on the radar of Swindon and Bradford.The central midfielder has enjoyed a productive season, establishing himself as a Toon first teamer before injury struck.Per the Chronicle, several loan bids will come in for Longstaff, season has been the continued success of senior Anna Ross at point guard. Last year, Ross shared much of the ball handling responsibilities with then-senior Kasey Chambers, but with Chambers' graduation, Ross has been thrust into the role of the primary facilitator.

Ross has thrived in that role this season, averaging 4.9 assists and 8.1 points per game. But her impact goes beyond the stats. She's become the engine behind the team's offense, and any success the Quakers have will undoubtedly run through her.

"She’s doing a lot of things that don’t show up on the statistics and that’s pretty much Anna’s career," McLaughlin said. "She’s a winner, she does little things that make the team really good, and we trust her."

Finally, the growth of Parker and fellow freshman Katie Kinum has provided the Red and Blue several additional scoring options. Parker is third on the team with 8.9 points per game, while Kinum is averaginrton U23 coach David Unsworth is confident Antony Evans will secure a move away.Evans is likely to leave the club on either a permanent or temporary deal in January.Unsworth told the Liverpool Echo: "I still think it will materialise, I just think itg 5.4 points per game, leading all bench players. The offensive emergence of the two freshman will certainly be beneficial in Ivy play, as teams will now have to be wary of the offensive potency of even more players.

So while the Red and Blue might continue to experience some growing pains, make no mistake —the team that's won three of the past four Ivy League titles has major room for improvement, and if it hits that potential, the rest of the Ancient Eight has much to worry about.

In this week's edition of Is Stat So?, Penn gymnastics flirts with perfection on beam, wrestling manages a come-from-behind win, and women's basketball continues to impress offensively, while the men maintainaiming Sadio Mane is set to leave them.The Reds all-but confirmed American giants Nike would be their kit supplier from next season after they beat current suppliers New Balance at the High Court last Friday.The Daily Star reports Mane could switch b their unblemished Ivy record. for previous editions.

Penn gymnastics' combral roleof Saturday's opponents Leicester City.Solskjaer talked up the Foxes' credentials while insisting that United can now not afford to fall behind Leicester, or other top-four rivals including Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal."Leicester is always a tough s.He said: "I'm not really too bothered about where I play as long as I'm out there but I am enjoying the deeper role."I'm fitting into that role quite well with this team and the players in front and behind me."For me to be in that position,ined score, out of a possible 50, on the beam at Cornell. The effort was Penn's highest in at least a decade, allowing the Quakers to the defending Ivy champions on the road.

Years since Penn women's basketball had scored more points in an Ivy League game than the 88 it put upon . The Red and Blue have now won seven straight games.

Free throw attempts by Penn men's basketball in its over Brown. Aside from 51 attempts in a four-overtime game at Monmouth, it was Penn's highest total of the season.

Matches during which Penn wrestling led Harvard in its eventual 20-18 win over the Crimson. The Quakers trailed for the entire contest before junior heavyweight Tyler Hall's walk-off win put the score in Penn's favor.

Undefeated teams left in Ivy League men's or women's basketball after the while Harvard was upset by Columbia. The Quakers are one of just 12 D-1 men's teams that are still undefeated in conference play.

Of the many club sports teams at Penn, club tennis can always count itself among the most successusan Tadic says that he will always be grateful to the club.Tadic played a key role in helping Ajax to the semi finals of the Champions League last term.But he has not forgotten his time at St. Mary's.Speaking to The Guardian, the ex-Saint said: "A lful in comparison to its yearly competition. A highly competitive club with a notoriously cutthroat tryout process, club tennis has a knack for attracting skilled talent from across campus and is therefore awarded the opportunity to be as selective as it pleases.

Only the best are allowed the privilege to compete, as the tryoutprocess trims the team down to an elite group — a groupwhich surprised no one when itannounced that it'll be headed to the USTA Tennis On Campus National Championship this week.

Joined by over 64 college and university co-ed teams, Penn will compete for bragging rights and the distinguished title of National Champion from April 13th-15th in Orlando, Florida. Previous championships have been dominated by California teams such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, and University of California, and by Texas A&M in the earlier 2000’s. Penn hasn’t been able to capture a title in the past 16 years, but the exponential rise in the group’s intensity and dedication gives them a better shot at the title with each passing year.

“They [USTA] have 4 teams from our section going, and we’re the first-seededteam. We got that seedbecause we won the sectional championship in the fall, which is huge because we’ve been to natiellegrini has confirmed that Michail Antonio will be out for their coming game.The Hammers are set to face off against Norwich City in the Premier League.And after their Carabao Cup win against Newport, Pellegrini spoke about the impending absence ofonals at least the last five years, but we haven’t been the first seed since I’ve been here,” senior Ashley Berg said.

A top player and a former team captain, Berg projected optimism and enthusiasm about the team’s prospects in the sunshine state despite their placement in a competitive pool alongside defending national champion Auburn.

“When we’re there, we do have a tough pool," she said. "Auburn is the reigning national champion and they’re a No. 2 seedin our pool, but we did get to watch them last year and I think we have a pretty good chance of beating them.”

As the Quakers edge closer and closer to their desired standing in the national rankings, specific goals begin to emerge and encourage the squad to work harder and reach higher to earn the status they deserve.

“In the past we’ve ranked around 20th to25th in the nation after going through nationals, so I think trying to beat that and getting top 20 would be really awesome for our team," Berg said. "We have a lot of returning players —a lot of really good players — so I think we’re going to do pretty well there this year."

Although the Red and Blue focus heavily on victory and take no match lightly, the team-wide emphasis on a good time and a culture of fun and inclusion cannot go unnoticed.

“We do a lot of social events; we’ll do team dinners, team BYO’s, and it’s interesting because we’re a co-ed team while a lot of teams are single-sex,” Berg commented on the team’s unique and easy-going culture. “We’ll do things like club tennis formal, and most of our tournaments do City No2 Mikel Arteta is a target for Lyon.L'Equipe says Arteta is being lined up as a possible candidate to replace Bruno Genesio as Lyon manager.Arteta, Pep Guardiola's assistant manager at Manchester City, was heavily linked with the Arsenal job n’t depend on how good you are or how you’re ranked on the team, so that definitely keeps things a bit lighter.”

As the recent sun and elevated temperatures in Philadelphia prepare the Quakers for the heat of Orlando, we’ll be waiting eagerly to see just how well the squad of ten can balance the fervor of competition and this light-hearted attitude of club play to earn a top spot in the nation.

Trusting a true freshman to start in the secondary at any level of college football is bold. Sending two out there at the same time is simply reckless.

In 2015, head coach Ray Priore and defensive coordinator Bob Benson had the guts to start three true freshmen in Penn football’s defensive backfield — and their brashness brought home the school’s 17th Ivy League championship.

And as the Red and Blue begin their quest to repeat as conference champs, sophomore defensive backs Mason Williams, Sam Philippi and Jyron Walker are set to pick up where they left off and prove one thing to the college football world: the former freshmen phenoms aren’t kids anymore.

“This year, moving forward and having returners play, it’s going to be our second year with this defensive style and coach Benson, so we’re really going to get after the quarterbacks and offensive coordinators of opposing teams,” Philippi said. “I think we’ll even be a better defense than last year.”

It wasn’t too hard to diagnose weaknesses when Penn football limped to a 2-8 finish in Al Bagnoli’s final season in 2014, but none was more glaring than the inability to stop the pass. Opposing teams shredded the Quakers to the tune of 272.8 passing yards per game, 8.1 yards per attempt, a 25-to-6 TD-INT ratio and a ridiculous overall passing efficiency of 152.1 — the 14th highest in the entire FCS.

So when that secondary saw two starters graduate, including leading tackler and two-time All-Ivy safety Evan Jackson, it was only natural for Penn to fear a repeat of the previous season’s results.

Enter the Class of 2019.

Being a true freshman isn’t easy at any college football program, but Ivy League regulations made the task for Penn’s trio ev Everton as new manager.The Times says Moyes appears set for a sensational return as Everton manager.It comes after the favourite to replace Marco Silva, Vitor Pereira, pulled outo key players.Solskjaer spoke at his press conference ahead of their UEFA Europa League tie against Partizan Belgrade.He mentioned that Luke Shaw and Nemanja Matic are close to being available for selection."Both have injuries," the United manager to of the running on Tuesday to concentrate on his current job in China.Men harder. Unlike Power 5 conferences which practice all summer long — that is, if the incoming freshman recruits don’t opt to graduate high school a semester early to get an even further headstart in spring ball — Ivy programs are only allowed 29 practices before the regular season.

And even with the time constraints, California natives Williams and Philippi earned starting roles right off the bat, initially being joined by returning senior starters Kevin Ijoma at cornerback and Ian Dobbins at safety.

“The best people play; at the end of the day, you earn everything that is given to you in terms of playing time,” said Benson, who also serves as the defensive backs’ position coach. “They get here as freshmen, and it’s not like other places where they spend the whole summer there, so they came in here — they had to do NSO — and tried to adjust to college and everything that comes with it, tried to learn new terminology and a new defense, new personalities, new coaches, so it’s just a very difficult situation.”

Like the rest of the 2015 Quakers, the secondary had its share of early struggles – none more notable than Dartmouth’s Dalyn Williams’ record-setting 23-for-25 performance while accounting for six touchdowns in the Big Green’s 41-20 shellacking of Penn in early October.

But Ijoma went down with an injury the following week when Penn hosted eventual FCS playoff qualifier Fordham, forcing Penn’s coaches to give Walker his own trial by fire in the second half. And although the Red and Blue’s epic comeback effort fell short in a 48-45 loss, Walker made four tackles as the team allowed only one second half touchdown after conceding five in the first half.

The small sample size was good enough for Benson; when Penn took the field a week later at Columbia, it suddenly found itself with three true freshmen starting in the secondary, and all three would stay there the rest of the way.

“I definitely came in trying my hardest to play as soon as possible; I’m a competitor and I just wanted to get on the field,” Williams said. “I was able to pick up on the schemes pretty well and I liked the fact that I got to play as soon as possible. I wasn’t coming in thinking that I was going to start every game; I just wanted to try my hardest and work as best as I could to maybe get on the field, but it happened a lot sooner than I thought it would.”

When all was said and done, Philippi finished with 46 tackles and a team-leading four interceptions — only two fewer than Penn’s entire team recorded in 2014 — Williams had 43 tackles and Walker secured 20 stops.

With all three freshmen starting from mid-October onwards, the Red and Blue embarked on a historic six-game win streak to stun the nation and secure a share of the conference title.

“It was obvious that they were young, going to make some mistakes, but they definitely were the best solution for Penn to win football games,” Benson said. “They are students of the game, they care deeply, and they are extremely talented young men, so it was pretty obvious that those three guys needed to be on the field.”

Certainly, the three rookies on the gridiron all found their own ways to contribute to Penn’s unprecedented turnaround, but a fellow newcomer on the sidelines was arguably more important than any of them. Following a phenomenal 2014 debut season as Albany’s defensive coordinator — when the Great Danes finished first in the nation in turnover margin and went 7-5 after being 90th in turnover margin with a 1-11 record in 2013 — Benson took his talents to Philadelphia to re-unite with Priore and made an immediate impact for the second consecutive year.

To say Penn’s secondary was perfect last year would be a stretch — its 135.99 defensive passing efficiency was the Ivy League’s second worst, and Penn gave up the most passing yards in the conference. But Benson’s blitz-happy, 3-4 scheme helped Penn leave its turnover troubles behind, as the Quakers secured 14 interceptions to vault to eighth in the nation in turnover margin after being a paltry 106th the year before.

“The moment we got on campus, Coach Benson preached turnovers; he wanted a turnover ratiohelsea's young players to cement their futures at the club.The Blues' serial loaning of their young players looks set to end this summer as they will be unable to sign any players until 2020.Abraham is returning from a loan spell with Aston Vill and , and we had quotas every practice,” Williams said. “He really pushes a very good pressure defense and he’s after the ball, so I think that we kind of feed off his leadership and his style of play-calling, and it definitely transitions onto the field and causes turnovers.”

Still, as impressive as the Quakers’ epic vault from sixth to first a season ago was, players and coaches understand that 2015 is in the past now. With the three returners all having completed their first offseason with the program, there’s room for even further improvement after an already stellar opening year.

“I think mentally it definitely helps us out [to have a full offseason] because we know the defense even better this year,” said Philippi, who was named to the 2016 preseason first team All-Ivy defense by both Football Gameplan and College Sports Madness, making him the only underclassman to gain the nod from either publication.

And as for what might happen even further down the road — they all have three more seasons of eligibility, remember — Ivy League quarterbacks best be on watch for years to come.

“We had three freshmen starting last year and we also have two or three other sophomores going to get a lot of playing time, so this year and the next two years coming, we definitely have a lot of potential,” Walker said. “We’re all definitely looking forward to what we can do — the sky is the limit.”

Unfortunately for Penn women's soccer, the squad allowed too many opportunities to its opponent on Saturday, conceding 25 shots en route to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of two-time defending Ivy LeaFormer Juventus coach Fabio Capello is convinced by the potential of Matthijs de Ligt.De Ligt missed victory over Cagliari amid claims of suffering an illness."They say so, but…," Capello told Sky Sport Italia. “We must give him time to understand the new system and the new mentality.“[Former hero Michel] Platini spent six months at Juventus."gue champion Harvard.

The Quakers (4-2-2, 0-1-0 Ivy) had high hopes for their first Ancient Eight contest of the season. After last year's disappointing Ivy campaign, one that included a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the Crimson at Rhodes Field, Penn looked at Saturday's contest as an opportunity to continue the momentum from a strong non-conference season.

But things up in Cambridge, Mass., didn't go quite as planned.

Without senior goalkeeper Kalijah Terilli for the fourth consecutive game, Penn was forced to rely upon junior Carrie Crook between the pipes. The latter did well in making nine saves, but Harvard's attack was relentless, outshooting the Quakers, 25-5.

Despite the constant pressure from the Crimson (3-6-1, 1-0-0), Penn's backline held on for the majority of the first half, even though the squad managed only oreleased by Leicester this summer.The forward, handed a contract at City after a chance meeting with the club's late chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, has seen his deal expire alongside the likes of title-winners Shinji Okazaki and Danny Simpson.Lorne shot to Harvard's 11. But only 27 seconds before intermission, Brooke Dickens scored off a rebound, sending a ball into the upper half of the net to put the Crimson in front.

"We might have lost focus on two set pieces and couldn't get the ball cleared, but outside of that, we played them pretty evenly," coach Nicogue 2Le Havre.The Ivory Coast international has been trialling with Le Havre after coming off contract at Swansea City.L'Equipe says Bony is training with Le Havre hopeful of impressing coach Paul Le Guen.Le Havre currently sit fifth in Ligue 2.Alongle Van Dyke said after the game. "It might not show up on the shot count, but overall we did a good job.

"We didn't get the result, but there are plenty of soccer games left to be played."

Shortly after halftime, Harvard made the Quakers pay once again, as Joan Fleischman scored off a cross from Haley Washburn to double the lead in the 59th minute.

While Penn couldn't find the back of the net on its end, it did manage to hold Crimson junior Margaret Purce scoreless. The 2013 Ivy League Player of the Year and 2014 first team All-Ivy selection notched seven shots, but could not repeat her two-goal performance from the teams' matchup last year.

Although the Quakers dropped their conference opener for the third straight season, Van Dyke doesn't think there will be much of a hangover for the squad as it prepares for the remainder of its season.

"I think, all in all, it's a good trip for us. Going into it, we knew we were playing against a tough opponent. They have experience playing at the NCAA Tournament level, and we tried to focus on having a good performance.

"I think one thing we've tried to do this season is not put an emphasis on a particular school or game. And what we told the team after the game [on Saturday] is that this cannot define who we are. The journey is not a straight line, there are going to be hiccups, but hopefully we learn from it and can get back to our winning ways."

The Red and Blue are next in action against Cornell on Friday at Rhodes Field.

Statistics have always been an integral part of sports. From the rise of Moneyball and the modern statistical revolution all the way back to the first box score ever recorded, the two topics have been inseparable.

For Penn volleyball, data analytics have become part of the coaching staff’s routine both in between and during matches, leveraging insights from outside the box score to produce tangible results.

“It’s a little bit of a tightrope walk because as a coach you have some instincts, very subjective ideas about what’s going on in the game," head coach Kerry Carr said."Then you get stats that prove otherwise, you’re looking at objectivity."

“I think it makes me a better coach getting to be objective about [the game], getting that distance from how I feel about it.”

Analytics tend to be a polarizing subject in the sports world, coming down to competing ideas of the old-school ‘eye test' versus new-school analytics. Carr, currently in her 18th season as the head coach of the Quakers, fits somewhere for granted in the Champions League.The Reds begin their defence of the title with a tricky game against the talented Italian outfit.And Klopp knows that if his side are not at their best, Napoli will be happy to pounce on any weaknesses.The last timin the middle of that spectrum, acknowledging the need for analytics while still relying on her instincts on game day.

These insights come from many different places. During games, the team has an assistant on the end of the bench furiously typing into a laptop, recording the outcomes of each rally as it happens in real time. In between games, the coaching staff spends time analyzing video of practices and matches to offer insights into how they should prepare the team for the next weekend.

In the highly competitive Ivy League, every advantage matters, and the ability to go beyond simply counting stats on the publicly available box score is the focus for Penn.

“The stat program that we’re using enables us to see statistics that are more in depth than what we see on the box sheet,” assistant coach Seth Rochlin said. “It’s really about helping quantify what has historically been unquantifiable. We use all sort of programs to keep ourselves at the cutting edge.”

Rochlin, now in his sixth season on Penn’s coaching staff, has been heavily involved in the continued growth of analytics within the program.

For example, when looking at offensive stats in volleyball, it’s easy to pick up on the importance of kills, point-scoring plays produced by a given player. But from a deeper analytical perspective, a lot of factors go into a player notching a kill.

Rochlin and the rest of Penn’s staff are able to look into a hitter’s position on the court, where and who the set cng for his blog, Mata stated: "Now it is time to get back in Manchester and focus once again on the Premier League. "We are all looking forward to training together on Thursday to prepare for Saturday's game against Leicester. Over the last few days ame from and where the hitter drove the ball intle United owner Mike Ashley has reportedly cancelled a promised players' trip to Las Vegas.The Toon were supposedly promised the holiday if they avoided the drop during a meeting over pizza in November.The Evening Chronicle reports players were pack order to find ways for more effective attacks.

For the players, it’s an adjustment from the way that they’ve been coached in the past — most high school programs don’t take analytics as seriously as the Quakers. According to Carr, the coaching staff has been working to make sure that players don’t necessarily take apositive or negative out of any given number, but rather view it as something they can learn from and improve upon.

Every player learns differently and responds to statistics differently, and the coaching staff is able to provide these insights through different media, whether it’s graphical representations or just cold, hard numbers to help their players grow.

“It’s all getting us to having a better student athlete and a better experience for them,” Rochlin added.

“We’re trying to give them the tools to be a better volleyball player and to be a better student athlete, whether it’s in the weight room, in the classroom or specifically on the volleyball court in set three.”

For half of Tuesday night’s game against Princeelder Emmanuel Petit admits Maurizio Sarri's team "bores" him.Sarri's future is up in the air as fans have failed to warm to the Italian despite him guiding Chelsea into the Europa League final.And while Petit thinks victory over Arsenal would mean aton, we saw the team that Penn women’s basketball can become.

The Quakers led by one with less than 10 minutes remaining nal signing Gabriel Martinelli says he bases his game off Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.The highly-rated 18-year-old completed a £6m switch from Ituano on Tuesday.Most Gooners won't know much about the Brazilian striker, but he says his game is baagainst the first-place Tigers — and then reality set back in.

The box score will show another double-digit win for Princeton, but Penn outscored the Tigers, 30-17, in the middle 20 minutes of the game.

Whether or not the Quakers’ resume is ultimately strong enough to earn them a postseason bid, they still have plenty of momentum going into next season. The key for the Red and Blue will be to turn their flashes of brilliance into sustained excellence.

Continuity should be a huge advantage for the Quakers heading into next season, as they will only graduate two players — and no starters — this year. Princeton, on the other hand, will graduate four of tonight’s five starters.

Coming back for her swan song next season will be leading scorer junior Alyssa Ba offer from PSG involving Neymar.The Independent says United turned down an offer from Paris Saint-Germain to swap Paul Pogba for Neymar.Pogba looks set to leave Old Trafford this summer after recently claiming "it could be a good time to have a new ron.

Baron’s scoring average took a dip this season but she is shooting at the highest percentage of her career. Meanwhile, her rebounding and assists numbers have been up in each of the past two years.

“She’s becoming the full package, and I think at the end of next year you’re going to see that complete player,” coach Mike McLaughlin said.

Baron will continue to have help in the backcourt from freshman guard Keiera Ray. Ray’s 31-point performance in Penn’s home win against Harvard showed she can take over against top Ivy teams.

Sophomore Kara Bonenberger is fresh off a double-double against Yale, while junior Meghan McCullough, who was penciled in as the starting point guard before the season began, will return next season from a torn ACL.

That also doesn’t include the countless role players that will be returning and the possibility of the emergence of another freshman like Ray this year.

The Palestra has also emerged this season as a tough destination for any Ivy opponent. Penn finished 5-2 at home this season, including a signature win over second-place Harvard.

The flashes of brilliance have taken a two-win team and turned it into a third-place team after only three years. But to take that final step to be a title contender, the Quakers still have room to grow.

One place to begin for the Red and Blue is to bring their end-of-game intensity to the opening tip.

After the Princeton game, Baron talked about the team’s resiliency in the face of adversity, a trait that will serve them well in the future.

But all three of Penn’s most recent losses followed a similar script: the Quakers dig themselves a big hole, then play brilliantly to close the gap — only to fall short when they run out of steam.

Going into Saturday's matchup at Cory.The Swede, on-loan from Atalanta, has been linked with winter market moves to Wolves and Arsenal this week.But Lucarelli, while also discussing former Manchester United defender Matteo Darmian, insists Kulusevski will stay for the entire season.He nell, the Penn women's basketball team had scored more than 63 points in a game just once all season.

That "high" came at a "low": in an 81-70 loss to Temple that marked the beginning of a month-long, eight-game losing streak.

In the first half against Cornell, Penn came out flat again, managing just 24 points and trailing by 11 at the break.

But in the second half, the Quakers caught fire, torching the Big Red for a season-high 55 points on 73 percent shootingl return to Liverpool this week to assess his latest injury.The Wales international, on loan at the Cherries this season, was not able to face Chelsea on Saturday due to "strange" leg injury.Asked for an update on the Wrexham-born star's injury, Howe (16-for-22) from the field and 6-for-10 from three-point range.

Coach Pat Knapp gave his team a pep talk at halftime, but ironically, senior Carrie Biemer said it was his emphasis on defending Cornell's three-point shooters that helped spark Penn's offense.

"We had said that this was a winnable game, and we wanted to turn things around for ourselves," Biemer said. "Once we came out and hit a few shots . we just kept getting really confident and everything fell on top of each other."

Fouling out. Because the Quakers do not have a strong, dependable presence in the frontcourt and only sparingly use dribble penetration, they have not always consistently gotten to the free-throw line.

Last weekend, Harvard and Dartmouth combined to commit only 27 fouls, and against Harvard the free-throw disparity was 25-to-11 in favor of the Crimson.

Foul trouble once again plagued at least one Penn player, as Biemer fouled out in only 13 minutes while trying to contain Columbia star forward Judie Lomax.

"It was a pretty crazy game," Knapp said. "We got poor position, and we know offensively that we need to do different things."

Against the Big Red, the Quakers' offensive surge was aided mightily by 17-for-21 shooting from the line in the second half, while Cornell attempted only 17 free throws in the entire game.

Cornell and Penn tallied 19 fouls apiece, although 10 of Penn's fouls came from only two players, as Caitlin Slover and Katarina Lackner both fouled out.

"You can question how the games have been called if you'd like, they've been very physical," Knapp said. "You could also question our defense. Are we in position so that we don't foul? And the third thing is, get the ball inside, take the ball to the basket, be aggressive."

Powerful rebounding. The Quakers gave up an eye-popping 15 offensive rebounds to Columbia, which is even more staggering et was delighted to score for Sheffield United in Monday's 1-0 victory over Arsenal.The summer signing from Bournemouth endeared himself to the Blades faithful after his 30th minute strike sealed a memorable victory at Bramall Lane.He told Sky Sportswhen considering that Penn only corralled 15 defensive rebounds of its own.

The battle for the boards has been a struggle for the team all season, but 6-foot-1 sophomore Erin Power was a bright spot this weekend.

"Good rebounders really are made and developed; they're not born, and they don't always have size or tremendous jumping ability," Knapp said. "What Erin has done that has developed over her career is she goes and gets the ball. . That's just effort and desire, so I really like Erin's defensive rebounding."

Power led the team in rebounding in both games (albeit with only five boards against Columbia) and recorded her first career double-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists against Cornell.

"She goes after the ball so hard," Biemer said. "And she is a lot taller and has a lot more length than a lot of the people that she's guarding. So she has the ability, she has the size advantage and with the intensity on top of that, it can be a huge advantage over a lot of opponents."

Penn goalkeeper Alanna Butera was flat on her back, the ball bouncing a few yards away from her, and the net was wide open. For the first time this season, it didn't matter.

The whistle after the loose ball signalled that possession was going the other way, and with little time left on the clock, the Quakers coasted to a 1-0 win over Lafayette last night at Franklin Field, their first of the year.

That turnover in the final moments capped off a rough game for the Leopards' Laura Fabian. No fewer than three times after intermission teammates launched long passes down the sidelines to her, only to see the ball trickle past her stick and out of bounds each time.

She didn't get overwhelmed with help from her teammates, either. Except for a 10-minute stretch early in the second half, the Quakers (1-4) won the possession war. They took eight shots on goal to the Leopards' one, despite Lafayette's four penalty corners. Penn had three.

"Obviously it was tough to get goals at both ends today," Lafayette coach Andrew Griffiths said.

Senior forward Kara Bolger, who scored Penn's only goal off a rebound in the first half, said the game was a tightly controlled affair, at least on the Quakers' end.

"There was so muovic.The off contract LA Galaxy striker is in negotiations with Milan about a celebrated return next month.But Monza chief Galliani told TMW: "Zlatan is a clever guy. "Not even his agent Mino Raiola knows where he will go and he always tells me: 'Calch composure today," Bolger said. "Nothing frantic. We didn't give up any stupid fouls, it was all really smart play, and I think that was really clear."

"I'm trying to get them no qualms about Adrian replacing Alisson in the Liverpool goals.Alisson injured his calf against Norwich City on Friday, with Jurgen Klopp confirming he will miss the next few weeks of action.Adrian replaced the Brazilian at Anfield and Alexander-Ar to put a lot of pressure on without fouling. Let them do the fouling; let us get the corners," Quakers coach Val Cloud said.

The Quakers now head into Cornell on Saturday with a win under their belts, even if it only came by a solitary goal. The Big Red are 1-0 in conference play and boast a plus-4 goal differential, the only Ivy team on the plus side in that category.

"What I liked about today was we were really working on getting the ball in the middle today, and we really did," Cloud said. "Maybe not as much as I had hoped, but much, much better."

The Leopards may have played hard, but playing smart was a different matter. Lafayette made a push in the final minutes, but wild passes and hasty decision-making didn't help the cause.

Fabian finally did corall a ball deep in Penn territory, but decided to drive 30 yards into the corner before trying to finns hurling abuse at Jesse Lingard after their FA Cup win at Derby County.Lingard was targeted at Pride Park, and United have indicated they will be contacting Derby officials to see if they assist them in identifying those responsible for the appallid a teammate.

Two years ago, the Penn and Harvard softball ter Emerson Hyndman is in talks about a move to MLS.Hyndman is in negotiations with Atlanta United, according to a report from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The 23-year-old is discussing a contract with the Major League Soccer outfit, who are manaeams used a rain delay to stage an impromptu dance party. But this year's Quakers will go to Boston on Sunday with a very different mindset: Revenge for their 2007 Ivy League Championship loss.

Before Penn (16-8, 3-1 Ivy) plays two against the Crimson (7-14, 0-2), it will take a seven-hour bus ride to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth (4-15, 0-2) in a doubleheader tomorrow.

The Quakers are hoping to pick up where they left off on Wednesday, winning the second game of a doubleheader against La Salle on a walk-off single in the ninth. Penn also won the first game, 6-2.

Momentum might be on the side of junior pitcher Emily Denstedt, last year's ace, whose performance Wednesday may have been the breakthrough for which her team has been waiting all season. She came on in relief in the second game and pitched 5.2 scoreless innig of Frank Lampard. Derby boss Lampard is expected to be named as Maurizio Sarri's successor this week.Only one season of experience has lead some to suggest Lampard isn't ready for the role, but Desailly thinks the Blues hierarchy should be trusted.ngs for the win.

"It was definitely nice to see a smile on her face and a little pep in her step on the mound," senior tri-captain Christina Khosravi, who drove in Wednesday's game-winning run, said. "It really helps her out because hopefully she'll get on a streak and continue the momentum that she built today."

Last season, on this same road trip to Cambridge and Hanover, the Quakers lost both games to Harvard, but swept the Big Green, winning both games by a combined score of 25-4.

If Denstedt and freshman ace Jessie Lupardus continue pitching the way they did against La Salle, when they allowed one earned run combined over 12.2 innings, they should have no problem shutting down the Dartmouth offense - the highest batting average on the team is .234.

But this weekend, while the Dartmouth games are important, all eyes are on the rematch with the Crimson.

"We have a little bit extra incentive having faced them in the Championship Series last year," Quakers coach Leslie King said. "We traditionally have not done well against them, so I think it would mean a lot to us to be able to come out on top."

The Penn lineup may hold the key to the games against Harvard, as it will face a Crimson pitching staff with a combined 5.59 earned run average. Crimson ace Shelly Madick was last year's Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, but she is not enjoying the same success in 2008. She has allowed 72 hits over 59.1 innings, and is 2-9 on the season.

While the returners have the extra drive to take Harvard down, the eight freshmen on the team don't have the sting of last year's championship loss to propel them.

"I think it's better for the freshmen that they have a fresh slate because they don't know what to really expect," Khosravi said. "We're going to try to at least get some fire gohis career at the very top.The centre-back, 30, has featured sporadically over the past two seasons.But he is confident this is not the twilight of his career."I'm patient. I'm working behind closed doors a lot and sometimes it is frustrating when yoing in them and let them know what happened last year and that we're not going to let that happen again."

LEXINGTON, Ky., March 15 - The clock at Rupp Arena showed 11 minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the game. Penn had gone on a 19-3 run to take its first lead of the afternoon at 39-37.

On Texas A&M;'s next trip down the floor, senior guard Acie Law missed a runner, but Joseph Jones slammed home the rebound to tie the game. And A&M;'s next same play saw the same result: Law missed a runner and Jones dunked the follow.

The third-seeded Aggies never looked back from there, going on a 10-0 run and cruising the rest of the way to a 68-52 win.

Penn hurt itself by falling behind early. The Quakers (22-9) were down 7-0 after 3:30, and did not even score until a three-pointer by sophomore forward Brennan Votel after 5:25 had elapsed - and after Penn missed its first seven shots.

Many of those looks were open shots, too.

"When you play against such a good team as Texas A&M;, when you have those open opportunities you have to knock down a reasonable amount of shots," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "We dug ourselves a hole."

A&M; (26-6) used its advantage for the rest of the half after Penn rallied to make the score 11-9. First it was the All-American Law, who scoer consideration at Spurs as cover for Harry Kane. The England captain won't be seen again until April after undergoing hamstring surgery.Spurs have already sounded out Silva's agent Jorge Mendes about his availability.The Portuguese is currently loared seven straight points to put the lead at nine on a three, a driving layup, and a mid-range jumper.

But the Aggies were also spurred in large part by an unlikely source.

Junior Dominique Kirk had 10 points, including eight of the Aggies' first 10, in the first half. Kirk had averaged 6.5 points per game coming into the contest.

The Quakers were down 31-18 at the half - their worst deficit and lowest first-half point total of the season.

That first period featured such lows as a 8-for-27 mark from the field (2-for-10 from three-point range). A&M; outscored Penn 7-0 on second-chance shots.

Seniors Ibrahim Jaaber and Mark Zoller were not ready to pack it in yet, though.

After the Aggies extended the lead to 14 early in the second half, Penn made its run.

Zoller converted a three-point play to cut it to 11. Freshman Justin Reilly hit a three. That brought the Louisville fans, whose Cardinals had already earned a date with the game's winner, to their feet rooting for an upset.

Meanwhile, the Aggies were missing easy shots and rushing others. Penn raced out in transition to get closer. Zoller rattled in a three to cut the lead to 37-34 with 14:13 lefz Gabriel Martinelli trialling with Manchester United has emerged.The Brazil ace linked up with Unai Emery's side from Ituano FC over the summer.The video shows the striker getting off a bus for a match against Lincoln City's Under 18s two years ago.t.

"They did a great job of converting those plays and we did a bad job of finishing them," Law said.

After Jones missed a jumper, Jaaber slashed through the lane and was fouled. He got a good bounce on his free throw and tied the game.

Then Law tried to take over again, but rushed his shot. Jaaber pulled up for a jumper in the paint and Rupp exploded as the Quakers took a two-point lead.

Penn had a chance to extend its lead, but Reilly badly missed a three. The Quakers' next trip was the shot-clock violation.

During that media timeout, A&M; coach Billy Gillispie made his most important coaching move of the game. He switched the 6-foot-8 Marlon Pompey onto the 6-2 Jaaber, and allowed the 6-3 Kirk to guard the 6-7 Zoller.

Penn did not immediately respond to the mismatch, and the offense stagnated. Penn went 4:59 without a point, and the Aggies reestablished control.

Several of those shots, including a backbreaking three by Kirk wle rivals next week.The Mirror says Liverpool will have to register any new signings before midday on Thursday if they are to face Norwich in their Premier League opener.The Reds open the new campaign at Anfield next Friday with a visit of the newly-ith 4:11 to play, came right at the end of the shot clock.

A&M; scored on three straight possessions, missed on two, and then had at least one point on 14 straight trips to end the game.

In the end, a senior class that went 79-37 and 48-8 in Ivy League play finished its career with a third straight loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

When Jaaber and Zoller walked off the floor with a minute to play, joining fellow senior Stephen Danley, who was limited to six minutes with a back injury, they received a rousing ovation from the Penn fans.

"Getting taken out of the game, just knowing that there's not a tomorrow, it kind of hit me there a little bit," Jaaber said.

And although the team does leave 11 players behind for next year, Miller will have a lot of work to do if he wants to replicate the feats of this year's team.

David Lynn ended his singles match against St. Bonaventure with a speeding ace past Mario Arce.

The Penn men's tennis team finished off its five-game homestand equally strong. The Quakers downed Richmond on Saturday and beat St. Bonaventure on Sunday.

The Red and Blue have gotten off to a hot start this season. And with the two wins this weekend the Red and Blue moved their record to a flawless 5-0.

Despite their strong marks, the Quakers are far from perfect. Penn's doubles teams struggled all weekend, losing five of six matches. The 0-3 showing against the Spiders (4-2) on Saturday caused coach Mark Riley to shuffle his lineup before the next day's match against re competition next season after his battle for Burnley's right back spot with Phil Bardsley. "It's always good to have competition, it keeps you working hard ander manager Rafa Benitez for last season's loan.Kenedy now has his sights on being a regular with the Blues this season.He told the club's website: "I learned a lot from my time there."I was very happy with the amount I played. It was a great experien keeps you on your toes," he told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph."Phil's a great playethe Bonnies (5-2).

Riley replaced three of his six doubles players on Sunday. John Stetson was cycled into the lineup in place of Brandon O'Gara. It was the first time Stetson had played in a match for Penn in over a year.

Riley's ability to interchange his starters demonstrates the depth of the Quakers roster.

With their obvious struggles in doubles the Quakers were carried to their two wins on the strength of their singles play. Penn put together a 4-2 advantage over Richmond and needed every win in order to earn the victory. The Quakers singles players also dealt a 5-1 blow to St. Bonaventure.

With the ineffectiveness of Penn's doubles teams, the Quakers were placed in an early hole both days. Riley was impressed with his team, believing that his players stepped up where a lot of others would have folded.

Riley lauded the resiliency of his team adding that the Red and Blue put forth an excellent team effort and "came out ecord says United have the Greece international under consideration should they lose David de Gea.As De Gea continues to stall over new contract talks, United could cash in with just a year on his current deal.And as a contingency, United are lookingand played very strong."

The epitome of this mental toughness was demonstrated Justin Lavner's match against Doug Banker of Richmond.

With the entire match on the line, Lavner won decisively despite going to three sets -- 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 -- to carry the Quakers to victory.

Given the recent success of the Red and Blue at the Levy Tennis Pavilion, Riley has reason to be optimistic about the future of his team. While he is always looking for improvement, especially from his struggling doubles combinations, he believes that the Penn squad as a whole will be tough on anyone's schedule.

"As a group, it will take a lot to beat us," he said. "If we play every match hard, we will be tough toward the end of the season."

The Quakers will next take the court when they travel to Maryland on Feb. 20 to take on the Terrapins.

The Terps are 3-0 so far on the season, with victories over Gerogetown, Goucher College and George Washington.